Here are a few examples of album covers put out by Decca Records back in the 1950s designed by Erik Nitsche, showcasing a plethora of classical superstars and symphonies. Very interesting to see such abstract design avenues taken to represent the music, Decca and Nitsche were obviously striving for something unique in the genre.

These images were scanned and posted on the Erik Nitsche Flickr stream, along with a goldmine of other historical artifacts created by the design pioneer. Well worth a look.

Renegade Processing guru Robert Hodgin is at it again, posting a few images from his latest coding tangent entitled Moment of Fission. I posted a few images in a previous post about Robert’s work, simply love his use of color, lighting and bursts. And once again, if you are an iTunes user you will know Robert’s work from the wicked visualizer he built.

Here are some intensely beautiful illustrations by Sam Weber for the new illustrated edition of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Excellent compositions where each one stands alone, just look at the color palette of the first and third. Here’s a little piece written by Weber regarding the project:

“Using contemporary illustration to accompany a much loved classic was an exciting challenge, made more so by the active involvement of the Golding Estate. Lord of The Flies is one of my favourite novels, and in many regards this opportunity was a true dream job.”

These pieces are the tip of the iceberg in terms of Sam’s portfolio. Swing over to Sam Weber’s website for more of his work.

Tomorrow morning I will be departing Halifax with a small group of other hoodlums for a weekend trip to Toronto. We are making the trek for a very important reason: metal. Me and my friends will be seeing some of our favorite bands all on one ticket . . . Mastodon, Dethklok, Converge and High on Fire. The blog cannot contain my excitement for this stellar line-up.

Most metalheads have a top list of bands they need to see at some point in their life, and this weekend will allow me to mark off the third on mine. Check it out:

1.Tool2.Queens of the Stone Age3. Mastodon4. Iron Maiden

I’m going to be giving out so many ‘satan fingers’ that my hands will surely be sore by Sunday. And speaking of which, the original version of the graphic above was done by Jon “Bean” Hastings, and I thought it an appropriate addition to this post. Gave me a good laugh.

I’ll be unplugged for the trip, so no email for a couple of days. I will however be mooching off my iPhone pals to update my Twitter as much as I can. So until then, stay heavy.

I’ve always been a fan of visualizing the systems and forces that govern earth’s forces, and the universe for that matter. Michael tackles religion, astronomy, chemistry, geometry and the esoteric in his designs with great use of typography and icons. The works in this set are even available on canvas.

I’ve mentioned a few times that there is nothing better then working with clients who are excited about what they do, because in turn they make me excited about what I’m doing for them. Reckless Love is a prime example of this.

Reckless Love is a 4-piece hard rock/metal band from Finland inspired by the likes of Mötley Crüe, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Halen . . . everything fun about metal in the 1980s. They just recently released their second single called Beautiful Bomb to follow-up their first, One More Time. Their agent attached this promo shot with the email when he initially contacted me, to which I blurted out “These guys look awesome! I’ll definitely work with them!”

Olli (the lead singer) and I started hammering through the logo style, which went through a few different versions before we settled on the final design. We both wanted something big, like Metallica or Judas Priest, but still captured the fun of the group’s sound. I posted a few of the different iterations above to show how the process went, from the stripped down vectors to the final renders. As for the cover of the single they wanted something bright and colorful, which I was happy to hear :) ’80s metal goodness.

These are the kind of clients you want to work with, man. They are as excited about the music and design as I am, and we’re all coming from the same sources for inspiration in our different fields. Great bunch of guys, and more to come from Reckless Love, for sure. But in the meantime you can catch up with the guys on their Myspace.

There’s no better way to start off the week then checking out some smooth illustrated typography. Here are a few examples from UK-based artist Anthony Forster, who is now in his 60s and a painter specializing in dogs, horses, etc.

I had come across these images before, but thanks to So Much Pileup for posting about the man behind the work. And by the way, So Much Pileup is one of the best inspiration blogs I’ve found in a while. Be sure to swing by.